Wyoming First Lady Jennie Gordon on Ending Hunger

86,000 Wyoming residents struggle with food insecurity.  First Lady, Jennie Gordon, wants to bring that number to zero. To that end, in 2019, Jennie launched the Wyoming Hunger Initiative. The program has grown into a coalition of ranchers, farmers, game processors, and others, that help supply pantries across the state.  In our conversation with the First Lady, we find out why she is so passionate about addressing food insecurity and how the program works. 

Transcript

Authentic Wyoming
January 16, 2024 
First Lady Jennie Gordon

This transcript was generated automatically using speech-to-text technology. The accuracy may vary in spots.

Hi, I'm Myra. And I'm Tressa. We are fancy marketing people with Union, a Wyoming-based telecommunication company. Yes, Wyoming really does exist.  

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 Our mission is to highlight those who inspire their communities daily. We believe this makes us truly authentic because a journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step.

So today our guest is Jenny Gordon, the first lady of Wyoming. 

Hello, Jenny. 

Hi. Thanks for having me. 

Yeah, thanks for being with us today.

Jenny, we know as the first lady your big initiative is the Hunger Initiative of Wyoming. Do you want to just start out by telling us a little bit about that and why you selected that specific?

I don't know if it's a task or an endeavor for the state of Wyoming. Sure. Well, you know, I come from it from a real passion.

I have nine brothers and sisters. We did have enough to eat, but both of my parents were very food insecure. And so I've always had that in the back of my mind to always be grateful for what I had to never waste, but to give back if I had the opportunity. And when my husband and I were campaigning around the state, I found it common in almost every community that they were setting up a pantry or had a pantry.

They were packing food bags for the weekends for kids. And I realized that it was a needed Wyoming and that we didn't have a food council or a food coalition at that time. And so really there was a lot of things falling through the cracks. People were working in this area, but there wasn't a lot of support. Many of them are volunteers and they have day jobs and don't have an opportunity to really, you know, be doing all facets of running a pantry so that well, first lady usually has a platform. 

So I wanted to work on something I was passionate about. And the Wyoming Hunger Initiative was born in October 2019. 

Thank you. Platform. That's the word I need. What was your first initiative? Yeah, it seems like yeah, we were just talking about an afternoon slump. It's one of those. It's good. Awesome. And so something that I learned a lot about when I was in school and through college and something that really interests me is I didn't realize what a food desert was.

 I'd never even realized what it meant to be in a food desert or what it meant for a community. And I grew up in a rural community in North Carolina. It's definitely not the same kind of rural here, but it is rural and I never realized what was happening with food insecurities. And I did grow up in a community.

Once I reviewed and looked back into the community that most of the kids in the schools were on free and reduced lunch.

And so I never thought about how it was impacting others or what to do. And so when I moved here and I saw about the Wyoming Hunger Initiative, I'm like, this is cool because this is something that I'm also passionate about.

And so as I've been living in the state and being a part of the state, I thought it was really neat that this was what you were using the platform for and how you were pushing this initiative forward. So if you could, could you talk about what it is like to be in a food desert or what that means for a community and maybe give some background into that for those who don't know?

Absolutely. So, you know, sometimes people actually say we're a frontier food desert because sometimes people have to drive up to 70 miles to reach a grocery store. 

Also, fresh fruits and vegetables aren't as easily available. Maybe in the summer. We have a very short growing season. So even if you're growing your own, you know, during the winter months, it can be very challenging.

But really it just means that access to food can be challenging. If you don't have transportation, if you don't have someone who can watch your kids, you know, not everybody can walk to a grocery store or corner market. So it is very challenging. There's about 86,000 people in the state who identify as being food insecure and they're in some of the counties that are more populated, but some of them are in the counties that are the least populated as well.

So it is a real diverse group, even though Wyoming is there's a lot of similarities. But county to county, we're seeing differences and differences in poverty in each county as well. That's so true

with the rural aspects that we live in. We had Bruce Benedict on an earlier podcast and he's the local grocery store owner here in our community, and we were just talking about how grateful we are for such a small community that we live in to actually have access to a store that's not 35 miles or 60 miles away.

So it's interesting that we're talking to you about this now. 

We were talking to him about how how much we appreciate that having that in our small community earlier today. So what do you think some of the underlying causes are like to to the hunger problem that we have? And is there ways that our community members, business members, just community members in general can can assist with changing those things?

So, you know, we have very low unemployment in our state. It's about 2.9%. So most of the people are working there. A lot of them are the working poor. They're just not making enough poverty level for a family of four in the United States is now $39,000 a year. You know, our dollars just don't go as far as they did.

 And so I think that's a big cause to it. There's a lot of service workers here, you know, and some people are working two jobs. Maybe they're not getting benefits. Half of the people who qualify for SNAP or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program do not sign up for it. Here in Wyoming. And, you know, I'm not sure if that's necessarily a a pride issue or maybe an issue of not having enough information, but it does leave us that gap that is often filled by nonprofits and by our faith-based community.

Yeah, I wonder if it's awareness. Do you think it's a lack of awareness of some of the programs that can provide assistance like SNAP? I'd never heard of it. Yeah. So that is in the olden days that was called food stamps. And so it's changed now. And it is usually a card. It's a card. So you can take it to the grocery store.

It looks a lot like a credit card. And so it's not as the stigma that's associated with it, you know, for having those stamps out as has gone. And it looks very much like a credit card. 

You can obviously not buy cigarettes or tobacco or or other things that are not food items. But, you know, it's something that I think if someone's struggling, they hopefully can get to, you know, get online and just look for the application and see if it's something that they qualify for.

Yeah, I really like what you said about pride. I'm not that it's a good thing, but it kind of reminded me of a conversation we've had

with Wyoming. 211 and a way that they're trying to reach the mental health crisis, especially with ranchers and with that cowboy mentality.

 Is this something that you've seen maybe also with the the food insecurity or with trying to get people to want to participate these programs or go to the food pantry, or if there's a local rancher that's partnering and they have the beef?

 Or is there something is this a hurdle that you're seeing? Is there a way that we're overcoming this? Is there a way we're working through this because there is that cowboy up mentality, You know, you know this it's you know, throughout the whole state, there's a lot of pride and toughness. How to is there a way that you're breaking that down or how do we help break that down and break those barriers down to just if you need help, it's okay to need help?

 Yeah, well, you're absolutely right. The stigma associated with asking for help can be really big. The barriers that are put up, you know? So sometimes when people go to a pantry, they don't want to provide a lot of personal information. We support all of the pantries in the state, but there are many pantries who don't ask for that information.

 They just think if you're they're coming for food that you should get food. And so on our website, no hunger while dawg, we have all the pantries listed and whether you do need to income qualified so that maybe that's not something a person wants to do that they can go ahead and go to a different pantry. But I think mostly we all have to realize we're all just one emergency away from being that person in need.

 And in Wyoming, we've always helped our neighbors, whether it's going to a branding or shoveling your neighbors walk. And so if we can think of it as we have neighbors that need help right now and we can come in and help them and understand a little better, I think that it raises all boats in our state and everyone will do better.

Yeah, that's great. I'm glad there's pantries out there that if they show up, there's no questions asked. Right? That's what you're saying. If you're showing up, we're going to provide for you. I like that. Absolutely. And you know, like I said, every pantry is different, but we do have that listed. So if that's a concern of someone's, they should go to the website and kind of see in their community where they wouldn't be asked any financial questions.

 Okay, great. Are there other ways like local communities can take more ownership of this issue and offer support? I know one of the things that you do is if like for hunters, if they want to donate, say, an elk or a deer, they could do that. But it has to be through a certain processor, I believe. Is that correct?

 Yes. We want to ensure that the chronic wasting disease test is done and so our partner processors will hold the animal until they've received the test back, which is very important to us.

The meat that is distributed is actually done through our pantry system. So they would have to there and again work with the pantries in the area.

 And if that was a concern, they should look and see if there is income qualifications. But I have to tell you, a lot of people love that. A lot of people want to hunt but are no longer able. And so I think it's a really generous way that our our local hunters and out of state hunters are contributing to feeding our poor folks in Wyoming.

 Yeah, I love that. How many processor processors are qualified throughout the state that you could take? You're aware. Okay. And they're on the website. It'll show the map. They're pretty much all over the state. You might have to drive a little distance to reach some of them, but almost every corner of the state has someone close by. 

That's good. That's great. Yeah, but I didn't realize there were 11. Yeah, there's one. There's only one. We started out with two, which was a challenge because someone would want to donate and we would not drive that far. So we have just worked really hard to get our processors to understand what we're asking and then to listen to their concerns.

So it's really been a conversation between us and we have a meeting, annual meeting with all of our processors and say, what went well? What can we do better? And I think that's how we were able to bring along some more additional processors. Yeah, I really love that you guys are focusing on the protein because it is one of the number one things that is lacking in the food pantry and that people want.

You know, I've have always really tried to volunteer at food pantries or close calls. It's the same kind of concept. And when you're making the boxes and you're preparing this to give to the folks that are coming through, whether it's a drive thru or whether they're walking in and you're helping put it together, I always remember looking, thinking, there's no meat, you know, or it's very rare to have that protein in protein is essential. I mean, it's what children need for building blocks. That's what we need for, you know, to grow. And I think about how much protein I eat and to just have that, I think it just creates a level of normalcy. You know, it makes it feel like you're just being in a normal environment. You're going to have a meal.

 This is your meat. You have your your staple that can go with it. You're not just going in and grabbing symbolic stadiums to go figure out what you can make out of it. It feels complete. If it makes it makes a human feel human to have that protein. Yeah, I think protein and then fresh fruits and vegetables are always a struggle as well 

How do you guys handle that with the fresh fruits and vegetables? Well, we have a program called a Little Extra, and we've partnered with the University of Wyoming Extension and our master gardeners throughout the state. And what we've asked people to do, we provide them seed. They can grow an extra grow in their garden and then they can donate it back to the extension folks and they get it distributed to the pantries.

You know, our growing season is short, so we have a lot of abundance at the end of August, but it really is kind of helping that we were able to do about £27,000 of fresh fruits and vegetables this year. Wow. That's amazing.

Are there other parts of the program we've talked a little bit about different aspects of it that we haven't talked about yet that you want to share with us and how it's evolved?

Sure. So we've partnered with our stock growers and our beef council to get domestic. beef, lamb and pork into the program. And what's been really exciting for me this year, as we were able to get beef sticks in almost every backpack program in the state of Wyoming, we did a pilot program last spring with Laramie County here in Cheyenne, and we did 1100 beef sticks a week for 17 weeks.

 So it was about 80,000 beef sticks. And what I love about the program is everyone came together, you know, our ranchers, our farmers, the backpack programs and through all Seven meats does the processing down in Laramie. And it's just been well received. And again, the kids can open the beef easily. It's supplemental protein that is very expensive and not easily donated.

So we are very proud of that program. Yeah, that's amazing. Who doesn't want a beef stick or. Yeah, right. I know. I'm like the best thing. Really good. I like that. Send me up. Yeah, that's awesome. Do you have any programs that you're wanting to implement or anything that you're working on that you want to share? Maybe as you've expanded so much?

 We're fortunate enough to get to hear your presentation during the business forum, and I think every year you mentioned something, a new program, and I'm like, Wow, this is so cool. Is there anything that you want to talk about or can share? Yeah, we you know, we do really concentrate on Wyoming solutions to the challenge of hunger. So, you know, if we can use the bounty of our state, whether it's game meat or domestic meat, again, fruits and vegetables, one program that we really are working on and we were able to pay off the school lunch debt in 2021 for the whole state.

 That was a real source of pride, I think, for all the federal credit unions for Dan Starks from the National Military Vehicle Museum. But that is one area that now the debt is increasing and, you know, I just we really want to empower communities to come together and find ways to help those kiddos who go through the lunch line, that they're not singled out, that they're not given an alternate meal, that their they can go through seamlessly and not be worried because really, lunch is the only time of day a kid has to have money to participate in school.

 And when you think how fundamental food is, I think that is really important. So, you know, I just challenge communities throughout the state to think about ways that they can help their citizens in their community. And those kiddos that, you know, really it's it's tough to come through that lunch line and not have a $2.50 or whatever the prices to pay and not know how you're going to get through the day with a rumbling tummy.

 Yeah, it could be their only meal also. Yeah, that's something that I really thought about too as I got older and was looking back on my life and where I came from and the situation that the school system was in and like it never hit me as a child to think that is someone's only meal. They might not know what what they're getting next.

 And so I really think that was really it was cool of our state.

 I saw a lot of schools here take part of that during COVID where they allowed students to still come in and have lunch because again, they may not have had food otherwise. So as a business, is there something that can be done if other businesses are interested, or is there a way that we could help out there?

Absolutely. So we do have a program called Angel Accounts where we will go in. And if the school district gives us the amount of money that they're in debt, we can help defray the costs.

There are businesses that are doing fundraisers. We have one right here in Cheyenne that's going to be selling breakfast free to us and we'll be going there and buying burritos for everybody.

 And 100% of that will go to pay off lunch debt. And that district here, which is Laramie School District, Laramie County number one. So if you, you know, just encourage businesses that you can come together and support those those families, you know, oftentimes they may not qualify for free or reduced and they just don't make enough. But, you know, it just can add up, especially if they're if you have a large family.

Yeah. They're kind of borderline there. Yeah. Yeah. So how do you think, Jenny, we can raise more awareness that this hunger initiative is here and and the way that people can help or if they need help, they could find out because you know, I lived in the state pretty much my whole life, and I think I didn't realize this was your platform until I came to the Governor's Business Forum. I think, three or four years ago.

 So how do you think we could help as a business or community members to make sure and raise awareness so that more people understand what's going on? Well, I think what you're doing right now is a great start talking about it, because it's you know, it's interesting to me. You can you have to pay your rent.

 You have to pay your car payment. There are things you have to pay, but you can cut back on food. And so I think that people sometimes it's they I just think it's that they don't want to hide it, but they just don't want to talk about it. So making it the normalcy of it. Right. Food costs have gone up 40% in our state.

 You know, all of the inflation, it's been really tough on families. So just understanding that and, you know, when I go to the grocery store, I always try to round up on that registered just because I think that every little bit helps, whether it's even $0.20 on the dollar. I think it all comes together and we can all make a big difference.

 So I think telling the story is huge. Yeah, yeah. Keep telling the story. Yeah, absolutely. I agree. Yeah, I know. It's just my husband and I and I think our grocery bill has gone up about an average between 50 and $75 a week from what it was, you know, a year ago. So Yeah. Which is huge when you've got, you know, a family to feed gas prices, heating oil.

 So it all adds up. And I think understanding that we can very easily change places with those people in need, if we had an emergency, an illness or something in our lives. So I think just compassion and understanding is huge. is there any other part of the program or any anything else you'd like to add before we end today?

 And then again, I think you did give the website, but maybe just reminding us again where people can go to find more information. Sure. So the website again is no hunger wyo dot org. You can get on there to look for resources. You can get on there to look for ways to volunteer and you can look how to donate.

 We say give where you live. So if you know your local pantry and if you don't get on there and look and see what your local pantry is, go down and see if you can volunteer.

 But one thing I will tell you, a lot of our volunteers are senior citizens. And, you know, we need to have some younger people come in and help them with those pantries.

 A lot of times the hours are shortened because they don't have volunteers. So if we can all just kind of contribute a little bit of our time or energy,

 I think we can make a huge difference in the state and show people we care because I think that's why what people love about Wyoming is that we care about each other and just a little bit extra for those in need I think goes a huge way to show who we are as a society.

 Great. I agree. I'm like, man, our next team builder. Right on. That would be a good team builder. I'm like, Wait a minute, I've got ideas. I love it. Yeah, well, thank you so much. Ginny. Before we go, we ask all of our guests a question because we are authentic Wyoming, the name of the podcast. How do you stay authentic, Ginny?

That's a really good question. I think it would really be hard for me to not be myself, to be honest with you. I think my, my parents really instilled in me that everybody puts on their pants one leg at a time. And so just being yourself and being real and and meeting people where they are, it's just important to me.

 And I love I love meeting people. I love hearing their stories. So I just always just try to be myself so that I'm open to hearing and to sharing and I'm open to sharing my story with them. I thought, yeah, that was yeah. I'm like, So good to meet. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate it. This I know it's your time and we value your time very much.

 So thank you for taking your time to be with us. Yes, thank you. We know you're very busy. I really do appreciate it.

 Thank you for what you're doing. What you're doing is huge. And I think people will hear and your style is so easy. And I think that's what gets people engaged. So continue on the good work.

 And thank you for what you do. Thank you. 

Well, until next time…

stay authentic.